The oven of the present invention may be of the same general type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,521,030 and 3,800,123, which issued in the name of Jerry D. Maahs, and which are assigned to the present assignee. Specifically, the oven of the invention may be a cooking and holding oven such as described in the patents. However, the invention is not specifically limited to that type of oven.
Similar to the ovens described in the patents, the oven of the present invention includes one or more electric heater elements encased in the walls of the oven and which extend around the interior compartment thereof.
However, unlike the ovens described in the aforesaid patents, which include electric cables formed of electric resistance wires surrounded by a sheath of asbestos which in turn is surrounded by a glass braid and a monel metal outer covering; the oven of the present invention is of a simpler and more compact construction, in that bare electric heater wires are embedded in a sheet of silicone rubber, the sheet being wrapped around the oven compartment to constitute an electrically energized heat source for the oven.